Shannon Matthews: Paul Drake, Mick Donovan And Claiming The Reward

The man who named Shannon Matthews’ kidnapper Mick Donovan to police told last night how the weirdo bounced her on his knee at a funeral. Ryan Baynes told The Sun that the “oddball loner, had a reputation for ‘acting oddly’ around children”.

SaysRyan,“atiler”fromDewsbury:

“Donovan behaved very strangely at that funeral. He was bouncing her up and down on his knee. Everyone at the funeral noticed it and thought it was far, far too close. Mick’s always been odd around kids. He really cracked up when his own kids were taken off him… I’m just glad she has been found alive and very glad I helped. Donovan is a very sick man to have done this. He’s a monster.”

Ryancalledthepolice.

He says: “I was expecting a call back from the police to say they either arrested him or discounted him. But each time I called I was told it was being ‘looked into’. I even thought about taking a ladder down to Batley Carr, finding where Donovan lived and looking through the window of his flat to see if Shannon was there.”

The property where she was found, which had a small Pokémon toy in the window, was just a mile from the nine-year-old’s home and was understood to be on a police watch-list. When two detectives visited yesterday morning, they grew suspicious and questioned a downstairs neighbour, who told them of hearing a child’s footsteps in the property, which was not usual.

Neighbours described Drake, who was arrested on suspicion of abduction, as a loner who had an obsession with washing his car. Mother-of-four Mandy Dixon said: “He is a weedy little man who nobody bothered with. He is obsessed with washing his car – he’s always out cleaning it, but he hasn’t been doing that for a couple of weeks. I didn’t give it much thought, to be honest.”

“I’d only seen her for a few seconds both times. I had a mental block and thought my mind was playing tricks on me. I didn’t want to waste police time but I was so sure I’d seen her.

“I couldn’t let it drop and went to the police station a week after she disappeared.”

No mention of Mr Baynes. It was Julie France who tipped off the police.

THE GUARDIAN:“After24days,thesoundoffootstepsthenapoliceman’sshout:‘We’vegother’”

There were no sightings of Shannon Matthews, no fingerprints to work on or images of suspects. In the end, it was the sound of small footsteps through a ceiling that led police to the missing nine-year-old girl, hidden in an upstairs flat overlooking the former textile mills of Batley Carr.

He added: “Basically I’m in the clear now – all my alibis were true. That Tuesday [when Shannon disappeared] I was in until the police officers came round. Then me, my brother-in law, my cousin and my mate went out searching. I live in this family – why would I want to do it for? I love Karen and I love the kids – everybody knows that. I know she’s my stepdaughter. But I always treated her like my own flesh and blood.”

Thank you for your comment and taking the time to address my curiosity. For further clarification, could you answer another question or two?

Would Anorak refrain from publishing comments in its threads on this case from other publications if those comments were considered libelous and speculative then?

For example, if an article speculated what the man in the cupboard with the three children had been up to while in there with them, would Anorak then reprint excerpts from said article with those speculations? Or scrupulously avoid doing so?

The US media and judicial systems are different from the British. Our jurors are advised they are not allowed to read the press or discuss the case they are serving on while they are jurors. They are expected to abide by those rules. We do not muffle the entire country while a trial is going on and hide information from the general population.

After months and sometimes years of reporting on a notorious case before any judicial action is taken, to me, it seems like shutting the barn after the horse has escaped, to say NOW you cannot talk or speculate about the case. People have been reading and making judgements right along. Some people have better memories than others and no matter what is written from the point of arrest, etc., or if articles are removed from the internet, they will remember what they have read. Our country (US) expects jurors to set aside this information and concentrate solely on what is presented in the court room and act impartially upon that information alone (tough job, though it is) when coming to a verdict.

penster

Craig I really enjoyed all your posts especially #31 paint by numbers empathy card – should be in twitterings.